Kaoru's Palms
by Tabris
Summary: Have you EVER seen Kaoru's palms?
1. Chapter 1 ~ Meeting

"Kaoru's Palms"  
  
Neon Genesis: Evangelion  
  
Fan-Fiction  
  
On a calm, eerily calm night, the phone that never rings rang.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"It's a beautiful night, isn't it? … very beautiful indeed."  
  
"Kaoru?"  
  
"Yes, come meet me by the spot where we first met."  
  
"Sure." I got up and got dressed. I didn't know why, but I wanted to see him. It was easy to sneak out, Missato slept like a stone. I walked along the now deserted streets of Tokyo 3. The only noise to be heard was a faint humming sound off in the distance. I stopped and looked at my feet, then my hand. I miss Pen^2, I thought. I continued on.  
  
Then I saw him, the faint humming had become louder, "Ode to Joy." It came from the boy I saw, the boy I wanted to see, the one who felt empathy towards me, the one who loved me, truly. There he was, sitting on a piece of rubble off the shore.  
  
"Why are you always humming that song?"  
  
"A beautiful night, a beautiful song…" replied Kaoru with a grin.  
  
"Wh-"  
  
"Don't talk, you'll ruin the moment."  
  
We sat in the silence and darkness for some time. Kaoru stared at the moon's reflection in the new lake. I looked at my feet.  
  
"You know, I've… I've never seen your palms."  
  
"I don't think I understand?"  
  
"Your palms."  
  
"Heheheh… Shinji, I think I was born to meet you!"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"That's enough talk." He then put his hand on my shoulder. I immediately jumped up.  
  
"Woah! I already told you! I'm not like that!" I sat down slowly. "I'm sorry for yelling, it's just… Pen^2… and Asuka… everyone's gone."  
  
"I'm here. And I pitied the second child. She did not love her Eva, she treated it like a toy. That is why she did not protect her from Aeriel."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"The 15th Angel."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Now, no more talk… please?"  
  
About an hour went by.  
  
"I need to get some sleep, we need to go in in the morning."  
  
"Stay, just a little longer. This may be our last time to see each other." There was a pause. A long pause.  
  
"That time, in the shower… you grabbed my hand… I felt something odd."  
  
"Love?"  
  
"No! Something strange… about your hand… I don't know. Maybe I was imagining it." I got up and began to walk home.  
  
"Goodbye… my friend." Kaoru seemed to be greatly saddened by me leaving. I now only wish I'd stayed… 


	2. Chapter 2 ~ Battle

Chapter 2  
  
The next day, Eva and I were sent out. Apparently, the 17th Angel had taken control of Eva 02. I had to intercept her. When I saw her, though, levitating in front of her was the 17th Angel… Kaoru… Tabris. I refused to believe. Eva 02 and I fought the whole way to Terminal Dogma. When we reached the crucified giant, I still would not believe that Kaoru was an Angel. Even as he continued to levitate and control Eva 02 without power nor entry plug. I defeated Eva, though, just as we reached Lillith. I grabbed Kaoru.  
  
"I thank you, Shinji, for taking unit 2 away from me. Otherwise, with her, I might have survived longer."  
  
"Kaoru… but why?"  
  
"It is my destiny to live forever, though my survival will bring destruction to the human race. However, it is possible for me to be killed and whether I live or die makes no difference. In truth, death may be the only freedom."  
  
"What are you… Kaoru… I don't understand what you are talking about, Kaoru."  
  
"This is my wish… please… destroy me. Otherwise you will be destroyed. Only one life form can be chosen to evade destruction and seize the future…" There was a long pause. "And you are not the existence which should die." He looked up at Ayanami, who was watching us from above, then back at me. "You need the future, it is what you live for. Thank you, Shinji… my life was meaningful."  
  
We stared at each other for what seemed like hours, and finally, with a crunch of bones, Kaoru was dead. I watched his beautiful head fall… float down into the lake of LCL, the lake of blood. That's when I saw what I'd needed to see all along.  
  
One long, limp arm, hanging through Eva's fingers, my proof of who… what that boy really was. On the palm of Kaoru's right hand was that red sphere, the pearl of life in all Angels, the Koa. Kaoru's core, his essence, his power… shattered. By killing the best person I had ever known, I had ended it all. Ended the battle. Evangelion was now without use, my mind was at rest, and my heart, along with Tabris' Koa, shattered. If only I had stayed longer…  
  
~End 


End file.
